Ukraine Today: Exclusive Interview
Israeli Missions Around The World Kyiv Новини Ukraine Today: Exclusive Interview

Ukraine Today: Exclusive Interview

  •   'Ukraine is one of Israel's most important partners'
  • 7/8/2015
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    Ukraine Today sits down with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to Ukraine Eli Belotserkovsky to discuss Israeli-Ukrainian cooperation in a number of humanitarian areas, including health care and post traumatic syndrome.
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    Watch Part I of the interview here
    Watch Part II of the interview here

    "In Israel we have a significant experience in a number of issues that concern life during and after conflicts. We try to share our experience (dealing with post traumatic syndrome) with Ukrainian counterparts. We bring experts from Israel to work with Ukrainian counterparts, psychologists, social workers, teachers, and even priests, to share their experience on dealing with these people who suffered significant psychological traumas". 

    "For Israel Ukraine is not just another country, Ukraine is one of our most important partners in this region. Ukraine and Israel have a joint history, history of the Jewish people in Ukraine'.    

    "Now when we see the situation which Ukraine finds itself in, it's probably one of the most difficult periods of the Ukrainian history, we, of course, are not standing aside, we are trying to support and to share our experience in the fields that are particularly relevant to the situation of Ukraine today. Most of these projects that we have are in the field of health care."
     

  • 'People should feel that they belong to the country'

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    "In general I don't think there is a place, unfortunately, that is completely free of anti-Semitism. But what I can say about Ukraine is the fact that, in Ukraine, we have excellent cooperation by the local authorities and by the government to try and to prevent or to persecute any perpetrators of anti-Semitic acts."

    "The people should feel that they belong to the country, and the country is something that is very close to them, it's part of them. It's not some kind of abstract idea."

    "We had to rely on ourselves, that's why we had to develop military industry."

    "Despite the situation, I think, Israel managed to overcome the image of a 'country in a conflict'; and the positive image, the positive side of it is that Israel has become some kind of a high-tech centre, Mecca and Medina of the startup industry, entrepreneurship and innovation has actually prevailed by far over this image of a country in  conflict."